Billy Bob Thornton as Jacob from A Simple Plan
First of all, it doesn’t matter what you’re talking about, if you add a little Billy Bob to it…it can only get better.
Billy Bob Thornton starred in Sam Raimi’s classic crime thriller, A Simple Plan, in 1998. The film featured the late Bill Paxton and Thornton as brothers who find a bag with millions of dollars in a crashed airplane. They steal the dirty money which leads to a series of increasingly violent and unintended consequences. Without spoiling the film, Thornton’s Jacob Mitchell is socially awkward and does what it takes to get the job done. However, it’s his sacrifice at the end of the film that brings the entire story into focus.
Perhaps, Strange could pop into the A Simple Plan universe and encounter Jacob. Convince him to go deer hunting that night, instead of fox chasing. Or the time travelling wizard could simply let them know the millions of ways that their “simple plan” will become a complex mess.
J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson
Spider-Man: Far From Home was a billion dollar hit, but the sequel earned its price of admission with a single scene. J.K. Simmons’ return as J. Jonah Jameson in the bonus ending was a wink to the character that the actor made iconic in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man franchise. It would be near criminal to not have the Oscar winning thespian and director reunite.
What isn’t clear is if we would be getting the flat-topped old-school news editor from the original Spider-Man, or if Sony would grant Marvel Studios and Sam Raimi (the director who was key in the studio’s success) the flexibility to use the same balding Jameson glimpsed last year, who works at the Daily Bugle online.
The new Jameson would also further help to establish Sony’s Spider-Man cinematic universe featuring Venom 2, Morbius, and other related properties that Simmons is expected to appear in. And with all the movie business looking at a long road to recovery after the current pandemic, the two studios may be more willing to collaborate than ever.
Liam Neeson as Darkman
There was a dearth of quality superhero movies in the early 1990’s. If your name wasn’t Batman, no studio would take your property seriously. Sam Raimi has been a lifelong comic fan and since it was hard to adapt comics into reputable features at the time, he decided to create his own.
The 1990 film Darkman was a throwback to the Universal horror serials of the 1930’s as well as pulp hero characters of that day, such as The Shadow. Liam Neeson starred as Peyton Westlake, a scientist who is horribly disfigured in an attempted murder. He attempts an experimental procedure to fix his wounds that endows him with superhuman powers and the psychotic rage of a full-blown steroid abuser.
Who would resist the opportunity to see Neeson and Benedict Cumberbatch share the screen. Universal Pictures owns the rights to the property, so there is a slim chance of this happening. However, Marvel Studios could simply cast Neeson as a scientist named Peyton, who knew Strange from him days in medicine. Perhaps, Strange could heal Westlake’s wounds and give closure to the Darkman franchise.
[Continue onto Page 3 and prepare for your mind to be blown…]
